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Cluster bomb challenge to ministers

Weapons

CABINET ministers are under pressure to justify the use of cluster bombs in Iraq. An anti-landmine group has written to them, asking how they square the use of the bombs with the government’s stand against landmines.

Left-wing politicians such as Clare Short, the international development secretary, have refused to condemn the use of the bombs, which leave hundreds of deadly explosive “bomblets” scattered around the battlefield.

Even Ann Clwyd, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley, who has campaigned vociferously against the international arms trade, has found commenting on the use of cluster bombs in Iraq difficult.

Clwyd said she had her views but did not want to comment. She is also the founder of Indict, which has campaigned for years to have Saddam Hussein indicted for crimes against humanity. Friends said she was torn between her dislike of cluster bombs and her desire to see the Iraqi regime toppled.